Water block or dam forming device



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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Russ ell H. Smith Feb. 20, 1940. R. H. SMITH WATER BLOCK OR DAM FORMING DEVICE Original Filed April 24, 1935 Feb. 20", 1940. R. H. SMITH WATER BLOCK OR DAM FORMING DEVICE Original Filed April 24, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Russell H. Smifth INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Feb. 20, 1940. R. H. SMITH I WATER BLOCK OR DAM FORMING DEVICE Original Filed April 24, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Russell, H. Smith,

INVENTOR.

Reissued Feb. 20, 1940 WATER BLOCK OR DAM FORMING DEVICE Russell H. Smith, Quanah, Tex., assignor of onehalf to Alfred A. Lindsey, ten per cent to Robert R. McDaniel, and one per cent to Earl Stine,

all of Quanah, Tex.

Original No. 2,043,075, dated June 2, 1936, Serial No. 18,019, April 24, 1935. Application for reissue April 23, 1937, Serial No. 138,672

11 Claims.

This invention relates to a water block or dam forming machine for use in the cultivation of land.

As is well known, in the cultivation of arid land,

lustrating a slightly modified form of the invention;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 8;

the practice is to provide checks, water blocks or, Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan view showing a '5 as otherwise termed, dams across the furrows to dam arrangement in accordance with the pres retain the water equally distributed, and also to ent invention; guard against erosion and the washing of the seed Fig. 11 is a detail view taken substantially on along the trenches. During a rain, water is the line Illl of Fig. 10;

10 trapped in the basins formed in the furrows by Fig. 12 is a transverse section, partly in eleva 10 the dams, thereby providing means for the retion, through the gear transmission case, subtention of moisture and the prevention of soil stantially on. the line 'I2-l2 of Fig. 1. erosion due to washing that would take place In accordance with the present invention, the in unobstructed furrows. When the furrows are improved dam or water block forming device 16 unobstructed, water either washes away the top comprises a suitable frame I pivoted atone end soil or causes the light fertile soil to be separated to clamps 2 secured about the rear axle 3 of out and deposited on. the surface to be blown a suitable tractor indicated generally by the refaway by the wind. By forming dams in the furerence numeral 4 as shown in Fig. 1. Forwardly .rows, the valuable and fertile top soil is conserved of the axle housing 3 there is suitably mounted w and the crop is benefited by the additional mois a shaft 5 to which end extensions at the sides 20 ture. of frame I are connected by links or arms 6 in In accordance with the present invention, a such a manner that by the rocking of the shaft machine of the character suggested is provided 5 the angle of the framel with respect to the whereby the dirt used in making the dams is ground may be varied for controlling the digging a shoveled into the trenches from opposite sides depth of the tools of. the device. For rocking the thereof so as not to unduly increase the depth shaft 5 there is provided a lever I attached thereof the trenches as results from the now existing to and locked in adjusted positions by suitable forms of machines provided for this purpose. rack and detent means indicated generally by'the A further object of the invention is to provide reference numeral 8.

a machine of this character which can be readily Extending transversely of the free end of the 30 applied to any suitable type of farm tractor, and frame I are spaced parallel bars 99 between which is otherwise characterized by simplicity which are pivoted as at. In guide sle ll i of construction and number of parts, operation which work rods I2. The rods I2 are connected and application of the machine to the tractor. as at I3 to eccentn'c straps l4 operating in the a The invention together with its objects and adgrooves of eccentric disks. l5 and I6 respectively. 5

vantages will be best understood from a study of The eccentric disk I5 is eccentrically secured the following description taken in connection on an outer hollow tubular shaftll while the with the accompanying drawings wherein: eccentric disk 15 is secured to the end of an in- Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating the appliner shaft I8 which protrudes from the end of.

.g cation of the invention; 1 I the tubular shaft I1, 40

Fig. 2,is a sectional view taken substantially The shafts I1 and I8 extend from one sid of on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; I a gear'transmission case I9. In this connection Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken and as best shown in Fig. 5, the shafts I] and hr a transmission f rmi p of the in-- [8, respectively, are divided into sections, thesec- 48 vention; tions of. the shaft ll being joined together 5 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longi dinal sectional through the medium of a suitable universal joint 1 view showing the manner of connecting a shovel 20, while the sections of the shaft l8 are connectshank to a fo t e ed together through the medium of a suitable Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken subuniversal joint 2|. o tantially on the line 55 of Fig. 1; The gear case I!) is suitably mounted on the 59 Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of rear axle housing 3 by brackets 22. the connection between the shovel shank and its Mounted on the ends of the shafts I1 and I8 foot member; 7 terminating within the gear casing l9, are gears Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a shovel; 23 and 24, respectively. I Fig. 8 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 2 11- The gears 23 and 24, respectively, are n mesh drive from. the power take-off shaft 30 will be transmitted through the gearing just described to the shafts l1 and I8 for simultaneously rotating the eccentric disks l5 and I6 in reversegdirections as indicated by the arrows shown in Fig; 2 for reciprocating the rods l2.

0n the end of each rod [2 is clamped as at 3! a head block 32 in which is secured the upper end of a foot or post 33. The lower end of. the post 33 is bifurcated as at 34, and is apertured to receive a shovel shank 35. The shank is secured.

in the bifurcation 34 of the foot 33 through the medium of bolt and nut means 36 and a wooden pin 31, the latter being provided in the event the shovel 38 strikes a hard obstruction, the pin 31 will break or shear off, thus permitting the shank 35 to swing about the bolt 36 as a pivot and thereby prevent breaking of the shovel or its ing rods l2 through the shafts, gearing and eccentrics in a manner above explained, so that at predetermined intervals the shovels 38 each serves to shovel or scrape the dirt from opposite sides of the respective furrows or trenches 40 thereinto to provide water blocks, checks or dams 4| as clearly shown in Figs. wand 11. It is preferable to so time the operation of the shovels that these dams 4l will be provided at, for example, every. nine feet throughout the length of the trench. Further, it has been found desirable in making these dams to. stagger the same as shown in Fig. 10, that is with the dam in one trench arranged in alternation or staggered relation to the dam in the next adjacent trench.

In. Figs. 8 and 9, I have shown a slightly modifled form of means for transmitting power from the power take-off shaft to the shovel operating rods I2. In this form of the invention, instead of providing outer and inner shafts such as shafts l1 and I8, I provide a single shaft 42 connected I in driving engagement with the power -take-oif shaft at one end in any suitable manner such as by a suitable train of gearing or the like. At its other end the shaft 42 terminates between the cross bars 9 and at saidend is equipped with a pinion 43. In this form of the invention, the eccentric disks 15 and I6 are dispensed with and in their stead are provided gears 44 mounted on suitable shafts 45, journaled in bearings 46, provided on the lower edges of the cross. bars 9, as shown in Fig. 8; One of the gears 44, as shown in Fig. 8, is in constant mesh with the pinion 43, and the gears 44 are in mesh one with the other as shown,' so that obviously the gears 44 are caused to rotate in unison in opposite directions for driving the several operating rods [2. In this connection, it will be noted that the rods l2 are connected with the gears 44 through the medium of eccentric pins 41. Manifestly, with such a second one of said eccentric disks, as and for the driving gear the shovels will be operated for shoveling'or scraping the dirt from opposite sides of the trenches into the trenches for forming the water checks, blocks or dams.

Referring again to the operation of the device, it will be understood. that in actual practice the machine willmoveforward, forbest results, at a predetermined speed of approximately three miles per hour and that the reciprocation of the hoes or scrapers will be relatively faster than the forward movement of the machine with the result that the hoes will bring the dirt into the furrows at nearly a right angle to the direction of movement of the machine. In this connection it may be stated however that the angle at which the hoe may travel across the furrow will not materially affect the damming or water block formation, so long as the hoe is properly adjusted to drag the dirt into the furrow.

While I have herein shown and described the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that changes may be made therein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A machine for building dams in furrows comprising a frame, means for pivotally mounting the frame. at one end to the rear of a draft vehicle equipped with a power take-off shaft, means for securing the frame at the desired adjustment relative to ground level, shovels operating laterally of the frame for shoveling dirt from opposite sides of furrows into the furrows to build dams therein, rods to which said shovels are secured, guide means mounted on the frame and with which said rods are slidably engaged, eccentric means connected with said rods to operate the shovels, and means in conjunction with said eccentric means for operating said shovels, from the power take-off shaft of the draft vehicle.

2. A machine for building dams in furrows comprising in combination with a draft vehicle having a power take-off shaft, a frame pivotally mounted at one end of the, draft vehicle, means for securing the frame at the desired adjustment relative to ground level, oppositely extending rods mounted on said frame for oscillatory movement, shovels on one end of the respective rods, a pair of inner and outer shafts mounted on said frame,

power transmission meansconnecting said inner and outer shafts with said power take-off shaft for driving the inner and outer shafts in reverse directions relative to one another, an eccentric disk on each of said inner and outer shafts, an

eccentric strap connecting one. of said rods with one of the eccentric disks, and a second eccentric strap connecting the other of said rods with a purpose specified.

3. A. machine for building dams in furrows comprising in combination with a draft vehicle equipped with a power take-ofi shaft, a frame pivotally mounted'on the draft vehicle at the rear end of the latter, means for securing the frame at the desired adjustment relative to ground level, oppositely extending rods mounted on said frame for oscillatory movement, shovels on one end of the respective rods, a shaft having an end portion mounted on said frame and a second end portion in driven engagement with the power take-off shaft of thevehicle, a pair of intermeshing gears mounted on said frame, a gear on one end of the driven shaft in mesh with one gear of said pair, and one of said shovel carrying rods having an end eccentrically connected with carrying rods having an end eccentrically connected with the other gear of said pair, as andfor the purpose specified.

4. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a frame, means for pivotally mounting the frame to a draft vehicle equipped with a power take-off, shovels operating laterally of the frame for shoveling dirt-from opposite sides of furrows into the furrows to build dams therein, rods to which said shovels are secured, guide means mounted on the frame and with which said rods are slidably engaged, eccentric means connected with said rods to operate the shovels, and means in conjunction with said eccentric means for operating said shovels from the power take-off shaft of the draft vehicle.

5. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a frame, means for pivotally mounting the frame to a draft vehicle equipped with a power take-off, shovels operating laterally of the frame for shoveling dirt from opposite sides of furrows into the furrows to build dams therein, rods to which said shovels are secured, guide means mounted on the frame and with which said I rods are slidably engaged, and means for operating said shovels from the power take-off shaft of the draft vehicle.

6. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a frame, means for connecting said frame with a draft vehicle equipped with a power take-off shaft, shovels operating laterally of the frame for shoveling dirt into furrows to build dams therein, rods connected with said shovels, guide means for said rods and mounted,

on the frame, and means for operating said rods from the power take-off shaft of the draft vehicle.

7. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a frame, means for connecting said frame with a draft vehicle equipped with a power take-off shaft, shovels operating laterally of the frame for shoveling dirt into furrows to build dams therein, means supporting said shovels for lateral movement relative to the frame, and means for operating said shovels from the power take-off shaft of the draft vehicle.

8. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a frame, means for connecting said frame with a draft vehicle equipped with a power take-off shaft, one or more dam forming shovels mounted on the frame and movable relative thereto, and means for operating said' shovel or shovels from the power take-off shaft of the draft vehicle,

9. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a draft vehicle having a power take-off shaft, a frame connected with said draft vehicle, one or more darn forming shovels mounted on the frame for movement relative thereto, and means for operating said shovel or shovels from the power take-off shaft of the draft vehicle.

10. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a frame, rods extending laterally of the frame in opposite directions from the central portion of the frame, swinging guides slidably mounting said rods on the frame, shovels mounted on the outer ends of the rods, and power means connected with the inner end portions of said rods for reciprocating said rods transversely of the frame.

11. In a machine for building dams in furrows, the combination of a draft vehicle having a source of power thereon, a frame connected with said 7 draft vehicle, one or more dam forming elements mounted on the frame for movement relative thereto, and means for connecting said source 'of power on the draft vehicle with the dam forming element or elements for operating the same,

RUSSELL H. SMITH. 

